Thursday, June 4, 2009

Living Your Best Life NOW

Can you answer these questions sincerely?

When was the last time you really gave yourself a treat?
When last did you hang out with your friends?
Are you the happy guy on Friday and the sad one on Monday?
Can you describe your life presently?
Are you caught up in the rat race?
Are you in charge of your life or other people, work etc are the ones planning your life for you?

Whichever way your answers go, I do have a challenge for you and you are not alone in this race. I want to challenge you on how to live your best life now. Enjoying every day of your life is very crucial in you been successful and getting fulfilled. You need to wake up Monday morning with full blast of energy knowing that it’s another great week for you and this week is moving you in the direction of your vision. The person you see when you look into a mirror is the one that dictates everything about you. You can live your best life now. You can buy the future now.
The place to be is the Impact seminar where all these would be addressed. Find the details below:

Impact Seminar

Tagged: Living your best life NOW
Date: June 27, 2009

Time: There are 2 sessions. Please choose which one will be convenient for you.
Session 1: 10.00am -1.00pmnoon
Session 2: 1.30 – 4.30pm

Venue: Chams Digital Village, Isaac John Str. Ikeja GRA

Speakers: Afolabi Albert, Abraham Holmes
Bola Adeoye, Image Consulting
Sola Adepoju, Planet Projects
Omotola Fawunmi, Project Stretch

NOTE: There are limited seats available for each session. To book your seat, you can send a sms to 08034424156 or send a mail to daalberto@yahoo.com. The seminar is free

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Empower yourself

Empower Yourself

One of the challenges that I face as a human resource consultant is when friends look at you as the only one who can help them and truth is that you can only do your best for them. Let me read out some text messages to you.

1. Dear Albert, please find enclosed my cv. I want a job in a telco company or an oil and gas firm. I am really counting on you to make it happen for me.

2. After looking at everything, I came to the conclusion that you are my last bus stop and I want to work in your company. Please help me as God would help you in return.

3. I heard that Etisalat is coming to Ibadan and they are recruiting. My friend told me you help recruit for them. Please help me get a job with them.

4. Good day Albert, I am very sorry for sending my CV in word format a bit late. Hope it is still timely. Still counting on you.

There are many more that I need not bore you with. I decided to write this note today because of recent happenings in our economy. Many companies are retrenching their staffs, heard about a telco company where they are bringing out the list in batches of 300. A friend described it this way that when you see your name on the list, they pay you 3 months’ salary upfront. There is an ambulance outside for those that might pass out. Banks that are nor retrenching are slashing salaries and giving huge targets. I know of corpers serving in banks that have as much as 200 million target.

The question I keep asking myself is what do we do in times like these and a reality is that why it is going bad for some, it is getting better for others. A bank just promoted some of its staffs even in this recession. Some are getting better jobs. What do we do in times like these?

My simple challenge to us is to do all we can to empower ourselves. Let me list out some ways by which we can do that.

1. Get new skills. I could remember doing recruitment for a telco company and the only requirement in the job description is that the person must be able to use Microsoft excel very well. I thought this was very easy but after a week, I could only get 3 people that have this skill. I really felt bad. I thought I was a guru in excel but in an interview when my COO was asking the guy if he can do this and that, I knew I need to go and sharpen my excel skill. There are many certifications you can do now that will increase your market value. Go out and do them. invest your money in increasing your value. There is Project Management Professional (PMP) , Certified Business Analyst Professional(CBAP), ICAN, ICSA, Oracle professional, CCNA, CCNP ETC. Go out there and increase your value. You will need it as leverage one day.

2. Brand yourself. I have conducted quite a lot of interviews and my conclusion from it is that I can see passion in people who know the value they carry. Some come and feel giving them a job is an emotional decision you have to make. Do a quick x-ray of yourself and determine your value. Say it out with all confidence. Let the person interviewing you have this guilt if he is not offering you the job.

3. Where you are now is not your last bus stop. There is still more to you. Have many plans for yourself. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? Take a while and think about this. Put your imagination to work. Create the most lovely and realistic dream. It doesn’t have to make sense to you know but let your mind believe it. Dream big, shoot for the stars. You are meant to be the best.

4. Always have money. I am an advocate for this. Cultivate a savings culture irrespective of how much you are earning. I strongly believe that ideas need a good landing pad in us and one thing that can help you take an idea to the next level is when you know you have money somewhere to pursue the idea. How many ideas have we rendered powerless because of the thought of “I don’t have to do this”. Have noticed that people will be willing to help you when you tell them that you need a million naira for a project and you already have 300,000 naira on your own.

5. Have other sources of income. Think very well. What services can you provides that brings in more money for you. Do not be too proud that doing some things would reduce your status. Your status would soon become very useless when you have the resources you need to back it up. I have met many people selling one or two things in different offices and truth is that no matter how small it is, something extra is coming in. I have made quite a lot in doing what I call the middleman business. All I need for this business is just to be resourceful and innovative. People need solutions and a middleman is just the person that can link both the supplier and the buyer together, in that way, he makes a little money for himself.

Let me stop here a while because there is a lot in me to write, my major charge for you is not to let people, circumstances, world economy, your job to dictate who you are, what you can do or how far you can go in life. You are the architect of your life. Empower yourself now so that you can enjoy the fruits of the labour later.

Cheers

Afolabi Albert
albert@abrahamholmes.com
Blog: www.daalberto.blogspot.com

''Believe it, Feel It, See it. You can get there''

Monday, April 20, 2009

On my wedding day

On my wedding day

I had a lovely time at a friend’s wedding where I was the best man this Saturday. I could see two people in love ready to share the rest of their lives together. I saw a man tired of living alone and ready to be fully responsible. I looked at myself and sincerely I know am up to the task. As the best man, we are both dressed the same , looking so glamorous but the difference between us later is the 18 karat gold ring on the finger of my friend which he was really brandishing to everybody who cares to see.

I got home tired that night but my mind kept wondering to the fact that my wedding day will soon be here. How wonderful it will be. Sometimes I do wish I can speed it up. I am one of the few that getting married has never really scared me. I did a 10 year plan for my life and included is the plan is that I should get married on or before 2010. There are various times that I have written different articles about my married life. This keeps the dream glowing in me. A particular one I wrote was inspired by my pastor, titled ‘’a day in my life in 5 years time”. I picked a particular day and wrote vividly how the day would be like starting from describing my house, my wife, my kid(s), my work and every other thing that surrounds me. I know one day I will make most of my write ups public. I do take time to read them over again and sometimes I update the write up because my dreams keep getting better and better.

A particular wish I would have loved is to get married on my birthday i.e December 25th, 2010 but for some reasons like I don’t want to wait that long before getting married and a friend of mine is accusing me of wanting to celebrate many occasions (birthday, Christmas, wedding anniversary) on the same day. Don’t blame me for dreaming that big. I do like good things.I am not here just making noise about my wedding day but I can tell you assuredly that overtime, I have got myself prepared for that next phase of my life. I want to list some of what I did maybe it will help others to get themselves ready for the best union in life.

1. Know who you want – as a guy, I do want a very pretty wife but I more than been pretty, I do have some values I hold dearly which she most possess. With these, my choice process was very easy. I have met some ladies who seem to be nice but we just never clicked on my values, for these ones I stay clear off but we just remain friends. When I saw what I wanted, I went all out for her.

2. Never be guided by your emotions – relationship is never to be guided by emotions. Don’t just fall in love; learn to stand in love too. If the person is not meeting all your requirements, don’t manage the person, look away immediately. Whatever is it you can’t accept in life, don’t go ahead with the belief that the person will change.

3. Get information – I have read many books about relationships and have listened to countless people talk about it. I could even do my own relationship series for people to buy. I remember when am trying to look for the values that I hold dear that my spouse must have, I saw in Oral Robert’s biography an excerpt he wrote titled “ 10 things he expects from his wife”. I read that place over again, copied it out and place that note in my wallet for a long time. I typed it out and ensured that my spouse has all of them. I have also read books on how to relate with women. Let me list a few here.
• Boy meets Girl – Joshua Harris
• I kissed dating goodbye – Joshua Harris
• Men are from Mars, women are from Venus – John Gray
• Five love languages – Gary Chapman
• Men are like waffles, women are like spaghetti – Bill and Pam Farrel
• Sex straight talk- Sam Adeyemi
• Every woman – • 165 questions – Bimbo Odukoya
• Before you say “I do”- H. Norman Wright and Wes Roberts
• Help me, am falling in love
• The lady, her lover and her Lord – T.D.Jakes
• Understand the power and purpose of man – Myles Munroe
• Understand the power and purpose of woman – Myles Munroe
• And so on and so forth………………

4. Have mentors – I would have made many blunders in life if not for the mentors God has blessed my life with. They are more like landing pads for all my ideas and wishful thinking. I find it very easy to seek their opinion before going ahead to take a step. They have been very truthful to me using their life’s experiences as an example to me. I would never forget a mentor of mine who told me a secret about her that many of us that are close to her would never believe just to stress her point to me. I do thank God for her because what she said gave me the strength to push forward. Don’t just have mentors, believe in them, obey them and maintain a good relationship with them.

5. Have good friends – you also need the input of your friends. Your friends need to accept your spouse. You need to foster a relationship between your friends and your spouse. When you are just getting by, try to do the introductions one at a time. Also get to meet your spouse’s friends too. You would need their support one day.

6. Plan ahead – dream out loud and be able to tell yourself how your married life is going to be. Share this dream with your spouse, it makes the person knows what to expect. Define your career life and that of your spouse. Know clearly what you want. Never be a victim of circumstances.

7. Learn to communicate effectively. Communication is the life wire of any relationship. Be ready to talk about anything. Spend much time together discussing saeverything ranging from what you like and what you don’t like, all your best- food, colour, idea and whatever. Just talk.

There are still many other but the name of the game is always to be on top of every situation. You dont have to compare with anybody, just be yourself and take yourself. You are either knight in shining armour or the angel of his life. Enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


Best Regards
Albert Afolabi
http://www.blogspot.com/

Friday, March 20, 2009

Good people, Great Nation


I am not a politician and I wont write like one. I just want to write this piece from the depth of my heart. I want to write about Nigerians. The new rebranding for our nation came up with the slogan,'Good people, Great Nation. Let truth be told, that

1. Nigerians are very good people. I have met a great number of people in different spheres in this country and they are really nice. Our parents were brought up with the culture of helping each other. I could say that because i Know my dad was quite responsible for many family members under him. Our house has always been with the addition of one relative or the other. I stand to say Nigerians are good people and we have to believe this fact before we can really value ourselves.I wont deny the fact that due to some people's behaviour, this niceness in Nigerians is eroding away but WE can stop it and inculcate it into ourselves.

2. Nigerians are people with great culture and firm belief in proper and right manners. I do remember stories of when sexual chastity use to be highly honoured. The pride of every family is not just giving out their daughter in marriage but that on the eve of the wedding there is the white cloth stained with blood to show that she was a virgin until then. It is not like now when it is no more valued and people have thrown restraint to the winds.We are good people and we have always gotten it right before. Thiefs were not called sweet names before or given national honours. They really were not celebrated. Truth is that we can still get there. Honesty was well valued and parents teach this not just to their children but even in folklores all around.

3. Nigeria is a great nation. We are the pride of Africa. Greatly respected through the world. Our population is our strength. We are well positioned and blessed with great resources. Our people go to other nations and do great exploits. Nigeria is a blessed land. People from other nation strive to do business here because they get a good return on the investment.

There are many more to write about us, we are Good people belonging to a Great Nation. I do hope we can all start singing this and go a step further by believing it.

We will get there.

Good people, Great Nation

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

See the Invisible, Do the Impossible

Yhello,

Let me use this medium to wish you all a happy new year. Its surely is a great year with many great expectations. To some, fear and anxiety is all what they could see for this year but i must say this year is very personal to everybody. Its about what you can see for yourself.

I am very conversant about happening around the world. A colleague told me this morning that exchange rate for dollar is now N160. I wasnt too suprised even though I know the full implication of that. Prices of goods that are dependent on foreign exchange would rise. I also know about great companies closing down like Lehman brothers and some declaring loss for the first time like Toyota. Bringing it home, the crash of our stocks market is still leaving many people hanging in indecision.

Amidst all these happenings around me, I believe this is still going to be the best year for me. I believe there are many breakthroughs embedded in this year for me. I remember one of my age long commitment which is
TO FOREVER BE AN INCURABLE OPTIMIST,
TO ALWAYS SEE THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE,
TO MAKE JOY MY EVER COMPATIBLE COMPANION,
TO ALWAYS HAVE AN EXPECTATIONTO ENJOY LIFE COS LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.

I remember 2008 vividly and I can boldly say this commitments really open doors for me. One major thing the commitments did for me was when others were seeing problems and issues, I could see the way out. I later got to know that I have made my lifestyle to be like that and that is why i have a different story.

My challenge to you this year is that forget what the news is saying, its not all truth. Forget what people beside you are saying, they can only say their own view of the situation which may be right or wrong and most times biased. Forget what past experiences may be, you might not be well equipped for that season. Forget what the economy might be saying, even in tougher situations, some people still break records and others wonder how did they do it.

My challenge is that even for what people have termed impossible, you can still do it. All you need to do is to be able to see the invisible. The invisble is what the people around you cannot see, what the economy is not saying, what does not tally with your past experienceswhat the news will never say ( we are used to bad news in this part of the world)The best way to challenge yourself is to always see the best you want for yourself. Hold dear to your heart the picture of brighter days ahead that you have always desired. You need a car, be specific, know the price, go window shopping, go test driving, one day when your heart is endeared to it, the financials will sort itself. I am not telling you what does not work or what i have not put to practice.

This year, I am commited to seeing the imvisible because I am well set to do the impossible.

JUST DO IT - Nike

Best Regards
Afolabi Albert
Abraham Holmes
3rd Floor(Right Wing),
63 Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.
Mobile: 08034424156, 07028754801
Office: 01-7403722
URL: www.abrahamholmes.com
www.choicecrew.com(An Abraham Holmes Company)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Our deepest fear

yhello all,

One way I have discovered to relax after each day's work of seeing inspiring movies. It helps to really relax my nerves. One great actor, director and producer that i am really thrilled by his works is Tyler Perry ( Diary of a mad black woman, Madea's family reunion, Daddy's daughters etc). You get to think deeply after any of his movies. I recently read about him in Ebony magazine (October 2008's edition). Like my last article, He is someone i can also refer to as a contrarian thinker. His method of film production as been compared to that of Hollywood and he is making a cool name for himself. For any movie that would be produced at $50 million in Holywood, He would do the same for $10 million and would still make more profit than his Hollywood counterpart.

Over the weekend, I had to see a movie that I had seen before. The title is "Akeelah and the bee". Its a lovely film starring Lawrence Fishbone. Its about a small girl called Akeelah with her great spelling skills obviously inspired by her dad. Truth is I tried spelling some words along with them but it was not really that simple.I want to share with us a quote that was shared with Akeelah in the film. It got me really thinking and I just got more motivated.
Here is the quote

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
We ask ourselves, who am i to be brilliant, georgeous, talented and fabulous.
Actually, whoare you not to be.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us,and as we let our own light shine, We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.


Most of us have looked at the wealthy people in our world today and we have come to a conclusion that they are the only ones suitable to be. The question really is who are you not to be wealthy. Its also funny when we see people drive past us in posh cars and we just conclude that they dont have a clean source of wealth. we even refer to them as the wealthy ones or in Yoruba- "awon olowo" i.e the rich ones. question here is if they are the rich ones, then who are you?

I do hope we can pause here and look at the level where we are and really understand that we are responsible for that level which we find ourselves. The person stopping us from achieving greatness in life is the person we see when we look into the mirror.We can achieve greatness if only we can overcome our deepest fear which is that WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE.
Its a jolly ride at the top and i do hope to see you there.

Thinking on the contrary

Remember that the airplane takes off AGAINST THE WIND not with it - Henry Ford

yhello,

Been a while sort of. Not that i was tired of writing but was looking forward to creating a real big stir. I had been always in support of people who are not too rigid in their thinking.Sometimes, what it will take to get the job done is our ability to think on the contrary. We need to know the difference between been active and been productive.

Let me share this article titled "Two centuries of contrarian thinkers" written by Michal Lev-ram. This articles talks about 8 individuals.

1. Samuel Brannan (1819-1889)
Contrarian insight: the real money's is in the picks and shovels, not the gold
Legacy: the 1st publicist of the California gold rush bought every shovel in San Francisco before he ran through the street shouting "gold!gold! gold! from the American river!" Cisco Systems has become a $32 billion company using a similar strategy, selling th routers and switches that form the backbone of the internet.

2. Aaron Montgomery Ward (1844-1913)
Contrarian Insight: Cut out the middlemen.
Legacy: Ward founded the world's 1st mail order business, Montgomery Ward Co. in 1872. countless othr catalog based companies have followed in his footsteps, including infrmation-age retailers like Amazon.com

3. King Camp Gillette (1855-1932)
Contrarian insight: sell the razors cheap and the blades dear.
Legacy: Gillette's loss-leader strategy has been replicated by countless companies. Hewlett-Packard makes billions by peddling $30 ink catridges for its $100 printers and while Sony losses money on its Playstations, it cleans up on th games.

4. Henry Ford ( 1863-1947)
Contrarian insight: Create a mass market for mass produced goods.
Legacy: in 1914, Ford doubled the standard industrial wage and laid the foundation for today's consumer society, assembly-line production of goods made by workers paid just enought to afford them.

5. Coco Chanel (1883-1971)
Contrarian insight: (Men's) clothes make the woman.
Legacy: back when women wore rib-cracking corsets, Chanel appropriated menswear to dress the "second sex" for the business world. Women snapped up her boxy tweed jackets and pants, and her small Paris shop became an international powerhouse, its runaway success forever changing women's fashion.

6. Leo Burnett (1891-1971)
Contrarian insight: image is everything
Legacy: that's a truism today but when advertising pioneer Burnett got his start, most ads consisted of wordy product descriptions. Burnett created such enduring icons as Tony the Tiger and the Pillsbury Doughboy and proved that it is the picture, not the prose, that really captures the consumer's attention.

7. Juan Trippe (1899-1981)
Contrarian insight: cater to coach class
Legacy: in the 1940s, when air travel was still rservd for industrialists, movie stars, and royalty. Pan Am's troupe started selling "tourist class" tickets for his newly expanded global air routes. he paved the way for mass tourism and generations of discount airlines, from Laker Airways to Jetblue.

8. Mary Kay Ash (1918-2001)
Contrarian insight: sales team sell more than salespeople.
Legacy: the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics put a feminine twist on th multilevel marketing model pioneered by Amway. she championed cooperation, not competition, and brought more than a million women into the workforce to compete for her annual top sales prize, a pink Cadillac

see ya all